I Prepped A Bunch Of Freezer Smoothies On Sunday, And Here's What I Learned

Freezer-pack smoothies are blowing up right now. When I came across Pinterest's latest phenomenon, I was intrigued to say the least. The trend promised some serious convenience: With a box of plastic baggies, a ton of fruits and veggies, and a little Sunday night prep, you could have a freezer full of smoothies ready to go.

I love smoothies, but between all the washing and prepping they can sometimes be more work than they're worth. This trick seemed like the perfect way to speed up that process and get breakfast on the table in no time. So one Sunday night a few weeks ago I decided I'd fill my freezer up with a bunch of different smoothies and live my best life from then on.

This decision was kind of a big deal for me—I'm prone to morning nausea, so breakfast is not my favorite meal. If I do force myself to choke something down, I'll usually stick with an apple or some kind of fruit, but most days I just opt out of it entirely. I know, I know, breakfast is "the most important meal of the day." Don't get me wrong, I love breakfast food, but most days I just can't stomach solids at 8 A.M. And that's totally fine, many dietitians note that you shouldn't force yourself to eat when you don't want to. Plus, smoothies taste great anytime of the day, so having a bunch in your freezer is never a bad idea.

So Sunday evening, after I'd assembled a lineup of smoothie recipes for the week, I headed to the nearest Trader Joe's with clear eyes and a full grocery list. This is the true story of how my week went.

Sunday Prep Day

As expected, this day was the most hectic by far. For anyone not schlepping it in NYC, grocery shopping is a leisurely weekly jaunt. Here, my journey to Trader Joe’s requires two subway transfers and a 10-minute walk. Not to mention, shopping there on a Sunday is like stepping into Dante's inferno with lines so long they fall in on themselves. It is not pretty.

But the trek always ends up being worth it. I spent just under $30 on all my ingredients, which comes to about six bucks a smoothie—not too shabby, considering how much the popular beverage tends to cost (cough, cough, $12 at most smoothie shops!). I chose five recipes with similar ingredients so I wouldn't have to buy a zillion different fruits and veggies. So prepare yourself for lots of strawberries and spinach. Here are all of the ingredients I bought:

Orange juice

Almond milk

Cranberry juice

Greek yogurt

Fresh turmeric

Medjool dates

Honey

Frozen mango chunks

Frozen strawberries

Baby spinach

Bananas

One lime

One avocado

Before heading home with my goodies, I stopped by a nearby drugstore to pick up some essentials—freezer-friendly plastic baggies (duh), and an ice tray for making yogurt and coffee cubes. Another important (and obvious) tool you'll need? A blender! Luckily, I'd just received one of those for my birthday. Thanks, Mom!

Now prep could finally begin. The first step? Make the yogurt and coffee ice cubes. I opted for Greek yogurt and French press-brewed coffee, and placed them in separate trays to avoid any coffee-yogurt mishaps. I let them set before continuing prep. They take a surprisingly long time to freeze (four hours at least) so get these cubes going as soon as you can.

The rest of prep was pretty simple. I chopped up all the things that required chopping (bananas, avocados, and dates) and filled each baggie with its corresponding ingredients. Per recipe instructions, I did not add any liquids until the morning of, but I did drizzle a little honey into each of the bags. Just so I wouldn't forget.

When my alarm went off I jumped out of bed and ran to the kitchen like a kid on Christmas. OK, that's kind of an exaggeration, but I was definitely excited. When I grabbed the first smoothie from the freezer I realized my first mistake—I completely forgot to write down the extra ingredients each smoothie recipe requires on the bag. And when I tried to look up the recipe, my computer had died. Being the lazy, groggy troll I was and always am, I decided to just guesstimate the remaining ingredients. What was the worst that could happen?

Much to my chagrin, the worst did happen. I didn't add enough honey, and I used real cranberry juice (the kind that I think tastes like battery acid) instead of cranberry cocktail, so my smoothie was too sour for my taste. I like things on the sweeter side so this was definitely a swap I should have made. Instead of re-blending it with more honey, I proceeded to stubbornly drink it in its pucker-inducing state.

On the bright side, I was surprised to find that I had a decent amount of leftover smoothie! I put it in the fridge for my roommate to try and she also thought it was too sour. Oh well, lesson learned.

Now I'm getting the hang of things. The recipe I used calls for strawberries and peaches, but I opted for mangoes instead of peaches, because some of the other recipes I'm using also call for mangoes. Two birds, one stone, no?

This one was SO GOOD. I was much more careful about adding the remaining ingredients. Instead of cranberry juice, I used orange juice and almond milk. Oh, and I made sure to top it all off with a hearty drizzle of honey.

I was able to finish this one with no problem at all. Maybe I'm finally kicking my bad breakfast habits, I thought. Eh, probably not. I think this one was just too tasty to resist.

Again I saved the leftovers for my roomie. To my delight, she also loved this smoothie!

I was super pumped about this smoothie. Coffee and banana? Yes, yes, a thousand times yes! I even added dates, because—in case you don't already know—banana-date smoothies are LIT.

Unfortunately, I hit a bit of a roadblock while blending. Meaning it wouldn't blend because the banana slices, coffee cubes, and yogurt cubes had all frozen together into a giant iceberg. I had to lift up the lid, separate the chunks, and add almond milk several times before it finally became something remotely drinkable. The everything-got-stuck issue was bound to happen. Next time I notice this I might trying breaking it up while it's in the bag with the back of a wooden spoon.

Another complaint: I didn't make the coffee cubes strong enough, so the coffee flavor was barely detectable. In the future I would use cold brew coffee to make the cubes, rather than French press coffee. Even though this problem was completely avoidable and totally my fault, I was pretty bummed, a little annoyed, and definitely followed the smoothie with an actual cup of coffee.

This was my first attempt at a green smoothie ever, and it ended up...not so green. I'm not entirely sure what color you would call this smoothie, but it certainly wasn't the blogger-style meadow green I was hoping for. It was really tasty, though!

Confession: I don't love avocado. IMHO, the extremely over-hyped fruit is just OK. That being said, I really did like this smoothie! It was nice and creamy—probably because of the avocado—and some chopped dates gave it a satisfying sweetness. If there's only one smoothie I take away from this whole experience, it's definitely this one. Best for last, I guess!

Closing thoughts:

All in all, this was a pretty easy project. Though there were a few road bumps along the way—giant, congealed ice blocks and too-sour smoothies—it was definitely something I would try again myself. Plus, I ate a breakfast for a whole week! Well, technically I drank breakfast, but that is still an accomplishment in my book.

One tip I wish I'd known when I started this whole project: Label the bags with whatever remaining ingredients you need. If your recipe calls for a cup of almond milk and a dash of cinnamon, write that on the bags so you don't have to go digging for the recipe in the wee hours of the morning. Because nothing is worse than dealing with your computer's rainbow wheel before you've had coffee.

And while I chose to make five different smoothie varieties, I can definitely see myself picking one or two of my favorite recipes and prepping multiple smoothie packs to last me a month. I may not be all about that breakfast life, but smoothies are always a great snack to have on hand.

So if you're looking for a way to speed up your morning routine, want a quick breakfast that isn't a bowl of cereal (but takes just as little time to put together), or just really love smoothies, this may be just the trend for you.